The Sound of Screams and Drums
by yeoyema
Summary: A strange meeting between the Thief King and a Lord of Time.
1. The Beginning

AN: The Master in this story is in a pretty nebulous state. So, despite the reference to _The End of Time_, the Master is pretty much the normal drum and conquest loving person the new series first shows him as. I'm not really sure why this got written but, it's here.

* * *

**The Sound of Screams and Drums**

The Master isn't disappointed when he finds himself on Earth again. After all, there is only one Time Lord (and therefore one TARDIS) left in existence in the universe and the Master knows how much the Doctor adores this species. He is disappointed when he finds he's been tossed far back into Earth's history but the Doctor has to arrive eventually. At least the rush of energy from the mending of time has fixed his body so he can survive without the copious amounts of food he _was_ eating. The citizens here would probably kill him for however many lives he had left if he started eating people again.

The citizens of Ancient Egypt believe that a person is guilty until proven innocent after all.

The Master makes himself at home until he finds a way out of this time. He quickly discovers that the Pharaoh and his Priests are impossible to control. Their pieces of gold, undoubtedly the result of some technology he can't place, protect them from his telepathic abilities. So the Master turns his attention to Egypt's underworld.

It's not hard to pinpoint the leader. Anyone runs around the street laden with gold and proclaiming himself the "King of Thieves" is difficult to miss. No matter what they claim, the leaders of this country can't be searching very hard for this criminal. Or perhaps the Master just has an advantage. He understands the criminal mind in the way the "righteous" cannot. But he finds the leader and is determined to bend the man to his will, whether by telepathy or flattery. The tavern the Thief King likes to frequent makes a suitable meeting place.

"Thief King Bakura," he irreverently greets.

"If you know who you're speaking with, I'd suggest more respect." The man grunts, tearing into the food in front of him. His attitude will change soon enough, however.

"I am the Master," he begins his chant, reaching out with his mind toward the Thief Kings. His mind is allowed in for this man is protected by a power similar (but far more powerful) to the Pharaoh's.

The thief doesn't even _notice_ the Master's intrusion into his mind. "Master? Of the sand?" the Thief King scoffs before his eyes grow hard, cold, and _dangerous_. "Stop wasting my time."

The Master doesn't have a reply to that. The sounds of screams have flooded into the Master's mind from the Thief King's. It mingles with the drums of his mind, pushing and demanding for blood and conquest. The Master would never had dreamed he'd find someone like him in the least but now he feels a strange kinship with the human who should, by all rights, be far beneath him.

"Listen." The Master urges, pushing his mind further into the darkness until the screams and drums echo eerily inside it. The Master can see that the Thief King understands from the way the other revels in the new sound and the wonder in his face. _Massacre_ and _Pharaoh_ float through the Master's mind while the Thief King's vocabulary now includes words like _Time Vortex_ and _Gallifrey_.

But more importantly, the Master sees what the Thief King seeks. It is neither riches nor glory, as others would assume. Instead, the Master feels a lust for power and destruction and a need to see someone _pay_ for all wounds suffered.

"I can help you," the Master offers, withdrawing his mind so that the screams fade and only the drums are left. The sense of understanding is gone but the kinship hasn't yet faded. But it is now that he recognizes the irony, that he is copying the words of his greatest friend and enemy.

"I don't need help," the Thief King replies suspiciously. He's seen inside the Master's mind after all.

"My help would greatly benefit you," the Master counters. "Your enemy would stand even less of a chance than he does now." And he would show the Doctor how treacherous these humans really are. He had to tweak Lucy to make her his puppet but this man would willingly destroy the world without the Master having to ask. To see the Earth, devastated by a single _human_, would break the Doctor's hearts. And the Master can grant this man the ability to destroy everything.

The Thief King is cunning of course, but greedy. He knows the power the Master once possessed. The Master can see it in the way his eyes gleam. "What help do you think you can give me?"

"What I offer is all of time and space," the Master explains. The Thief King knows what that means now, after their minds have freely shared their knowledge. Even if most of the information is already forgotten. "If you travel with me, I will give you the Earth for all eternity. You will be a god."

The Master could offer more but the Thief King is used to thinking of a world as only Egypt. He will not have given a second thought to the fact that he could _have_ more.

"I will travel with you," the Thief King eventually agrees, pretending to be indifferent. They finish their business and go their separate ways, for now.

***

In the dark, Bakura's eyes gleam unnaturally. He knows what the Master can give and the Earth is barely a drop in the Nile. The Master is weak, as if the rest of his race and it is small wonder that the _Time Lords _were vanquished. But Bakura is the darkness and he is strong. He will learn all about the strange power the Master can access and then take the universe for _himself_. Instead of the Master, all shall know the reign of the Thief King.


	2. To Leave

It was a stroke of luck that he'd gained the vortex manipulator. The Master had begun to think no one every traveled to Egypt after so waiting for so long. He was the first to greet the young Time Agent who'd appeared, and was glad that he'd remembered how to monitor the vortex after so long.

The time agent in question seemed capable, if far to trusting. Her disguise was impeccable except for the wrist strap that, the Master knew, she wouldn't dare leave laying around.

"Where did you find this?"

"Just a piece of decoration. From my home." she replies. She allows the Master to take it off, though she impressed upon him the importance of giving it back before addressing what's important to _her_. "There was a village near here, wasn't there?"

"There was." the Master answers truthfully. "It burned down several years ago."

"Oh." The girl's face seems to turn inward from contemplation. She obviously misjudged what time she needed to travel to.

"Did you have family here?"

"No," the girl smiles slightly at the thought. "There was just a boy here who helped me once. I wanted to thank him, and give him something in return."

In other words, she wants to change history. A dangerous course of action. But she's given the Master what he wants. In return, he'll ensure that she doesn't know what was stolen from her. It takes time but soon enough, this young lady is convinced that she's lived her entire life in Egypt. The young Time Agent has never heard of the organization she once belonged to. It it's place is devotion to the boy she traveled through time to find again.

The woman is exhausted from fighting the Master and slumps to the ground. "Seto," she murmurs and the Master knows that he succeeded.

* * *

Finally, he has gotten the Millennium Ring! Years of planning and waiting are finally paying off. The Ring rests comfortably around Bakura's chest as he makes his way to his chosen hiding spot.

The Master, or Mehhur as he calls himself now, had requested rather impolitely that Bakura provide him with a luxurious lifestyle. That had almost been enough to make Bakura break off their deal. Bakura did not provide others with with his own ill-gotten gains. But Bakura had realized that such a requested could work in his own favor before that happened.

In only a few days, Mehhur managed to become a well respected member of the local community. People who had barely met Mehhur acted as though they had known the man their entire lives. They spilled their secrets to Mehhur, if the man so desired, and were always happy to hand over treasured items for Mehhur's gain.

Not even Mehhur's bizzare mannerisms or the few times he'd been seen in the same location as the dreaded tomb robber Bakura had made no impact on people's perception of him. It was impossible for such a _good_ man to associate with such an obvious criminal as Bakura. Therefore, Bakura could never be able to hide in Mehhur's house.

The irony almost makes Bakura laugh. He doesn't know how Mehhur had managed such indoctrination but at least Bakura seemed to be immune to its effects. He continues to use Mehhur's home as a hideout even after he stopped providing the man with limited amounts of gold.

When Bakura enters, Mehhur is holding some magic item and grinning like a child with a new toy. It seems solid, unlike the last time Bakura had seen the item. Items had been scattered all over the place as Mehhur attempted to piece it together correctly. The design seemed unreliable to Bakura. If the Millennium Items worked in one solid piece, why would others need to be put together?

But Bakura's only experience with magic only involved the Millennium Items. Perhaps magic that did involve human sacrifice required a little more effort in their creation. Mehhur insists that the object isn't magical whenever Bakura asks, which is a ridiculous claim. Anything that can teleport a person must contain some form of magic.

It isn't just the object that's strange, however. Mehhur is wearing bizarre clothing that wraps neatly around his body. Rather than the kilt Mehhur usually wore, he wore strange light blue clothing that wrapped around both his legs before joining at the top. And then there's the thick, grey, clothing that wraps around the other man's torso and extends all the way from the shoulders to the wrists. The clothing is probably a style from some far away land though that doesn't explain why Mehhur is wearing it.

"Are you planning on dying of heat? Because a fire would speed the process along."

Bakura receives a glare for his comment. Any mask of civility falls away the instant Bakura appears. It has probably only been sheer luck that neither one had seriously insulted the other. So many purposeful and accidental insults had been tossed back and forth.

"The sooner I get away from this primitive place and it's clothing, the better." Mehhur's face wrinkles in distaste.

"There's nothing wrong with this clothing." Bakura growls. He can't argue that this country isn't primitive. Not after all he saw in Mehhur's mind of other worlds. "Yours is the one designed to kill people from the heat. How is it possible to _move_ in that thing?"

Instead of answering, Mehhur straps the magic item around his wrist. Which is just as well. Even for something so simple, Mehhur would explain things in words Bakura can't possibly hope to understand, even with some of Mehhur's memories rattling around inside Bakura's mind.

"Put your hand here." Mehhur instructs, touching the area. Bakura complies with this 'request' worded as an order. He can hear the sound of the Pharaoh's guards out in the streets now, scouring the entire city in search of him. He's not ready to face Ra, Slifer, or Obelisk now, which is inevitable if the guards find him.

"One more thing." Mehhur says, "Where we're going, I'm not Mehhur or the Master. I'm Harold Saxon."

Bakura doesn't know why Mehhur changes his name wherever he goes. One name works just fine. But, if the Master wants to be known as Harold Saxon, Bakura sees no reason not to agree.

"Whatever. Are we going or not?" Bakura demands. Mehhur – Harold Saxon – glares once again, but pushes buttons on the magic item. The entire world seems to spin around him and Bakura knows their traveling to one of the places in Mehhur, now Harold Saxon's, mind.

* * *

AN: Since I can't figure out what the Master's powers are, he's getting whatevers plot convinient (or skipped over since neither of the characters care to think about how the Master gets things done). In other news, I'm going to make a poll. There are several ways this story can go and I'd like to see what seems most interesting to you. The options so far would be:

1) Shadow Magic interferes with the vortex manipulator and the Master and Bakura end up in Domino post-Battle City

2) Something damaged the vortex manipulator and the Master and Bakura end up in Kul Elna before the creation of the Millennium Items

3) The Master and Bakura go where they were supposed to go and end up on another planet.

Something to remember is that just because something wins the poll does not necessarily mean that it'll be what's chosen to continue. However, it does increase the chances since I'll be putting more thought into how to plot that out.


	3. The Future

Havelock won by virtue of being the only voter. So here's number one. If anyone wanted another version, they can write it themselves.

**Chapter 3**

Bakura can't hold in his screams as the world spins around him. Shadow Magic is pouring out of him, mingling with Mehh – no, _Saxon's_ item. He can feel his stomach churning and is suddenly grateful he hadn't eaten recently. He forces his eyes closed, hoping to throw off the feeling of disorientation caused by the foreign magic.

All of a sudden it stops and the change throws Bakura off balance. He instinctively throws his hand out, and presses it against a nearby wall to keep from falling. He concentrates on calming his stomach. Is this _supposed _to happen?

Cautiously, he opens his eyes. The first thing he notices is the ground, a solid block of grayish white stone. Limestone, perhaps, though it isn't nearly as shiny as limestone is supposed to be. But that can be explained by the layer of dirt covering it. Small, shiny, cylindrical objects are strewn about, along with shards of something transparent and sharp.

The wall he is leaning on also appears to be stone. Its colored yellow, though dents in it show that, underneath, the stone was actually white. They are between two buildings, Bakura realizes. To one side is a solid wall, but to the other he can see people walking back and forth. Near the entrance to the alley Bakura can see the Master, examining his magic device.

"Did it break?" Bakura questions.

The surprise in Mehh – _Saxon's _(why did that man change his name _again_?) – eyes is quickly squashed. "It must have. It brought us to the wrong place and time."

"So you can't deliver what you promised?"

"I can, but I'll have to revise the plan." Saxon says. "First, I'll have to get you clothes that will allow you to blend in. It appears to be winter, here."

Bakura nods. Looking out of the alley, he can see the Master's reasoning behind those strange clothes. It seems as if everyone wears something similar.

He keeps himself amused by watching the people, while Mehhur fetches Bakura's clothes. He takes note of where people walk. They avoid the large metal beetles and only walk across the painted, black stone at a certain signal. Stranger yet, people talk to themselves. Sometimes he catches a gleam of metal near their ears and wonders if the object talks back. A couple of kids walk by with a large metal object that blasts music along with other people's conversations. Not even Mehhur's – _Saxon's_ – memories help him sort everything out.

He only realizes that Saxon had taken a while to get back when he realizes the sun is disappearing in the sky. The crowd has dwindled to a few people here and there. There should have been sufficient time for Mehhur to find a few clothes!

Idly, he considers summoning Diabound to find the other man. It occurrs to him that he doesn't know if such a thing is possible, so far away from home. Bakura's Dia-diank still rests on his arm, so all he needs was an isolated location to avoid unwanted attention should Diabound appear.

But that can wait, Bakura tells himself firmly. The first thing to do is to find sufficient shelter to wait out the night. Its obvious that Saxon isn't coming back.

As if summoned by Bakura's thoughts, Mehhur arrives. The man walks towards Bakura with a thin bag hanging from his hands. Through it, Bakura can see the promised clothing.

_Of course_ _he comes when I'm about to leave._ Instead of saying this, however, Bakura simply scowls. "What took you so long?"

"I needed money to pay for the clothes. Getting it was more difficult that anticipated."

Bakura doesn't know what money is, though he does understand it facilitates trade. Money, he guesses, was sort of like wheat or copper which can be traded for almost anything. Even if the person you offered it to doesn't need it, they knew they could trade it for something else. "If you can't trade for it, then steal it."

The withering scorn Mehhur directs at him tells Bakura enough. But the thief holds his tongue since Mehhur still holds Bakura's new clothes and Bakura's transportation back to Kemet. Bakura merely stares back, unwilling to back down from the Master's gaze. Its a challenge and Bakura's pride wouldn't let him back down from that.

"Well the," the Master grins. Bakura narrows his eyes, wondering if this is a new sort of game. But Mehhur merely continues, "Let's find some place you can change into these."

They manage to find a public restroom not to far away. Bakura learns to use the lock so that the door stays closed and struggles into the foreign clothing. Buttons, he quickly decides, are far more trouble than they're woth. But since the pants won't stay up without them, Bakura has to resign himself to learning how to use them.

The pants themselves are strange. He can feel the material wrapping around his legs but they are surprising mobile considering how they look. The shirt isn't as bad. He's worn tunics as a kid and the shirt is just a shorter version of that. He remembers what Mehhur said about the tags and manages not to wear it backwards.

"Satisfied?" Bakura demands, stepping out of the bathroom for the tenth time. Several times, Mehhur has taken issue with some detail that would alert someone to his strangeness. At this point, Bakura would declare his love to the Pharaoh's priestess if it got him away from here.

"Good enough." Mehhur decides with a glare at Bakura's hair. Most people, Bakura remembers, don't have their hair so tangled in this time and place. Nor did they allow it to be coated in nearly as much sand as Bakura had. But that can't be helped.

Mehhur has secured a hotel room for them. As soon as they arrive he heads straight for the shower. Bakura, in the mean time, decides to examine the lights hanging from the ceiling. A quick flick of a finger and the lights turn on and off. He's seen something similar in Mehhur's mind but seeing it in person is amazing. Mehhur's still in the shower, but that doesn't really matter. Its time to start exploring.

* * *

There are several businesses in Domino City, but none are suited to the Master's purpose. The best one, he decids, would be Kaiba Corp. It is the the only major corporation whose CEO lived in Domino City. The problem is that Kaiba Corp is a gaming company specializing in virtual reality games and holographic projections for a children's trading card game.

The Master regrets that the vortex manipulator didn't fizz out a decade in the past. Back then, Kaiba Corp had specialized in weapons, a field that _would_ have been more than suitable. The Master is sure he could come up with _some_ way to conquer the world through trading cards. He's already gotten elected as Prime Minister of England through cell phones. Well, that and some heavy campaigning. And quick elimination of the people who hadn't been brainwashed. But if cell phones were usable than so are card games.

He definitely has to find a way to brainwash Seto Kaiba into giving him a high level job. The Master has no resume he could get Kaiba to accept either way. He also knows that it's a good idea to know something about the company he would be working for. And since a trading card game, Duel Monsters, is Kaiba Corp's most memorable market, that is what the Master has to learn about. He begins to research the more memorable aspects of Duel Monsters and the powerful cards.

Bakura wanders over as he's doing that, obviously curious about the computer. He watches as the Master familiarizes himself with a few of the better known cards.

"Is that Mahad?"

"It's unlikely you'd recognize anything." the Master answers.

"It is!" Bakura declares, outraged. "I'd _killed_ him right before we left. _How_ did he manage to escape?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mahad!" Bakura points at the Dark Magician picture on the screen, face twisted in rage. "He was _dead_. His ka had been sealed away in _stone_! It is _impossible_ for him to be _here_."

"According to Ishizu Ishtar, the game was based off of ancient Egyptian tablets. It's probably just a coincidence." Whatever the thief is talking about anyway. The Master knows the ka is a part of the soul. How would anyone seal a _soul_ in stone?

"It _isn't_." Bakura hisses. "The colors are right, except the face of course. And I can recognize others too. There's Battle Ox."

Amazingly, the thief has gotten the name right even without being able to read the card. But a game is just a game, even if it has existed for three thousand years. The Master will allow Bakura to tell him what he knew, but this isn't going to change his plans. Even if Bakura believes one of the cards is a long dead rival.

* * *

AN: Okay. A very slow chapter but at least I've given Bakura some proper modern clothes. And a hotel room. I've got the story plotted out to a degree but I haven't figured out how they solve their everything yet. Time Agent!Kisara is going to be making an appearance. And the Doctor's also going to be hitching a ride. And Ryou Bakura (somewhat). Obviously the Kaiba brother's will show up at some point. I toyed with the idea of adding Jack Harkness but I really don't have room to squeeze him in either. I already dropped Yugi, Tea, Joey and Tristan. There were just to many characters to focus on with them around. As it is I want to get rid of the Master. I really don't know how to write him at all.

And I realized that, for my plot to work, the story can't be post-Battle City. I need Ryou Bakura to have the Ring and, after Battle City, Yugi managed to keep a hold of it for a while. So it's pre-Battle City but post-Duelist Kingdom. Yami Bakura's in the Ring but he's not active since he doesn't have a good opportunity to grab the Millennium Puzzle.

Also, I accidently wrote this in past tense so I had to switch it all to present tense. So if some of the tense are off, that's why.


End file.
